Young at Heart Chorus

Joan Blomberg (1936)

Joan is a native of Waterbury, Connecticut, residing now in Wilbraham, MA. She is a retired elementary teacher from the Springfield schools, Mother of five children, three girls and two boys. Six grandchildren live throughout the county so traveling to visit them, walking and hiking with senior groups and volunteering consumes her leisure time. Since her high school chorus days and teaching music to her classes, she continues enjoying music by performing with the talented chorus members at Y @ H.
Chorus member since 2006

Helen Boston (1930)

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Helen went to junior high and high school in Philadelphia. She married and had nine children, six girls and three boys. Helen is currently residing in Florence, Massachusetts. She loves performing with the Young@Heart Chorus, making quilts, arts and crafts, and decorating with balloons.
Chorus member since 2002

Patricia Cady (1935)

Pat was born in Hatfield, MA and was horseback riding at 3 at the Little Red Riding School her parents owned. She competed in gymnastics and also took tap and ballet. Pat's husband was a MA State Trooper and Pat was a Hatfield Police Officer. They had 3 children and now Pat enjoys 3 grandchildren. An avid crossword puzzle solver, she also enjoys dancing, knitting, casinos, traveling and of course, singing.
Chorus member since 2006

Louise Canady (1929)

Louise retired from retail in 1995, but works part time for the Springfield Public School System and wants to help the incapacitated. Her late husband, who inspired and loved Louise, sang for Lyndon B Johnson. Louise has performed in Canada, Atlantic City, Rhode Island and in Springfield, MA and hopes to dedicate her love for singing, vibrant voice and time to the Young@Heart Chorus.
Chorus member since 2006

Patricia McTee Ervin (1925)

Pat grew up in Austin Texas, Graduated from the University of Texas
in 1945 with a degree in Drama.
She lived for 50 years in Boston Ma, where she directed childrens
theatre and raised 5 children of her own.
She is an avid worker for peace, loves opera and coffee ice cream.
Chorus member since August 2007

Jean Florio (1922)

Jean is a Northampton resident and a veteran of the Hampshire Choral Society and St. Mary's Choir. A former baby-sitter, waitress, and Smith College Residence and Dining Services staff member as well as a parent and homemaker, Jean lists her current interests as cooking, sewing and hot air ballooning.
Chorus member since 1993

Len Fontaine (1920)

A retired technical illustrator, Len has also performed with the Golden Age Harmonicats, the Chicopee Singing Swinging Seniors, and the Springfield Chordsmen. A Y@H harmonica soloist, Lenny is also avid hiker and bicyclist. Len served as president of the Springfield Cyclonauts for more than a decade. He was also a Scoutmaster for nearly 20 years.
Chorus member since 1998

Stan Goldman (1930)

Stan is a proud native New Yorker, Brooklyn specifically. Stan earned a master-of-arts degree form New York University and taught English for many years in Brooklyn, and later at a medium security prison in Connecticut. Stan has done a lot of theater, and in 1982 won a best supporting actor award from a regional Community Theater Association. Being a devout lover of the arts, Stan takes great advantage of the wonderful treasure trove of culture that is to be found on the Island of Manhattan.
Chorus member since 2004

Jeanne Hatch (1926)

A Missouri native, Jeanne began her singing and acting career at four years old. Jeanne sang with a swing band in the 1940s, acted off Broadway in the 1950s and taught Theater and Speech at Holyoke Community College from 1969 to 1999.
Chorus member since 1998

Norma Landry (1927)

Norma, a native of Webster Massachusetts and Easthampton Massachusetts resident, tuned her pipes in glee clubs, choirs, and the Hampshire Choral Society. A retired secretary to the Easthampton Superintendent of Schools, Norma is an avid gardener and traveler.
Chorus member since 1993

John Larareo (1932)

John is familiar to local audiences as a 30-year veteran of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Follies. The Hatfield resident is a former member of the Amherst College Department of Building and Grounds. John loves people, travel and music.
Chorus member since1994

Patricia Larese (1930)

Pat, whose credentials include serving as secretary to the President of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, the Connecticut State Armory Inspector, the Indiana Steel Corporation Purchasing Manager, and the Stanley Home Products Purchasing Agent is also the Young @ Heart President.
Chorus member since 1993

Miriam Leader (1919)

Miriam belies her age as she hikes and bikes through the streets of Northampton. The Y@H's longtime violinist, Miriam also plays the mandolin and sings in Panharmonium (an international folk dance band) and Hot Kishkes, a klezmer band. Miriam's résumé includes multiple careers (poet, freelance journalist, photographer, agriculturist, and now grandmother of 5) as well as addresses (Cincinnati, Providence, New Rochelle, Vermont, Israel, France, and, for three decades, Northampton)
Chorus member since 1985

Pat Linderme (1930)

Pat began singing at 3, imitating her father. At ages 15, she was a contestant in a regional talent contest. The winner would go to NYC and appear in a nationwide radio program. She lost of a young man who sang a comedy song. She sang Gounod’s Ave Maria and came in second. Later, she sang with her husband Charles, a gifted pianist and bandleader.
Chorus member since 2002

M. Eileen Litke (1939)

A Fitchburg, MA native, Eileen aslo lived in Ohio but has lived in Western MA for the past 53 years. A retired dental assistant with a husband, two children and three grandchildren plus two step- children and two step-grandchildren. Began taking tap lessons in 2004. Loves gardening, sewing and crafting. Fan of old movies and British mystery movies. Eileen has sung with church choirs and on- stage choral groups. Currently a member and Sponsorship Director of the Swinging Singing Seniors of Chicopee.
Chorus member-in-waiting (not old enough)

Brock Lynch (1924)

Brock is the Young @ Heart's only M.D. Brock moved here from his native Boston to join the staff of the Northampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Brock. A Yale medical graduate, points out that he performed his first appendectomy when he was only 20 (and was taught to drive an automobile by his younger sister the following year!) After being inspired by seeing the late Chorus diva Anna Main in her 100th birthday parade Brock joined the group.
Chorus member since 1996

Steve Martin (1928)

Steve joined the Young@Heart Chorus after a chance meeting between two friends, who met, while grocery shopping. From weekend family jams in Detroit, to several amateur theater productions in Chicago, a century ago, Steve has maintained a love for music.
Chorus member since 2000

Grant Milner (1932)

Grant has been singing in church choirs since grade school, starting in Bradford, NH in the 1940's. Grant is a veteran of the Korean War and and Engineering graduate of the Wentworth Institute, where he did some choral singing. He enjoyed a 40 year career in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering before retiring in 1998. He enjoys cooking, travel and camping. He is a widower following a 49 year marriage, a proud father or four and grandfather of six. Chorusmember since 2007

Chorus member since 2007

Joseph Mitchell (1932)

Born the second child of a family of six in Palmer Massachusetts, Joe attended public schools and presently resides in Springfield. Joe is a retired Facilities Management Supervisor of MassMutual Financial Group after 43 years of service. Joe is a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and a local member of the Carl L Talbot Post 6189. Joe enjoys fishing and volunteer work at the Springfield Chapter of the American Red Cross. Joe is married and is a proud father and grandfather.
Chorus member since 2006

Dora B. (Parker) Morrow (1922)

Dora is the fourth child of a family of thirteen and was born in Hennings, Tennessee. Dora is widowed and is the mother of Eight Sons and Seven Daughters. She is the grandmother of twenty-three grandchildren, and the mother-in-law of our drummer, Billy Arnold. A 56-year resident of South Bend, Indiana, Dora currently resides in Springfield, Massachusetts. She enjoys traveling, singing, flower gardening, and arts/crafts.
Chorus member since 2002

Gloria Parker (1929)

Gloria is the mother of four and a retired school cafeteria cook and Smith College Residence and Dining Services staff member. Gloria-a veteran of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Follies and Volunteers in Northampton Schools variety shows also worked at the Walter Salvo House meal site, which is where she first encountered a performance by the Young at Heart.
Chorus member since 1995

Liria Petrides (1926)

Liria began her musical career singing Albanian songs with her kinfolk at weddings and celebrations. For 11 years, the retired school secretary and law library clerk commuted to Young @ Heart gigs from Fitchburg before settling in Amherst in 1997.
Chorus member since 1986

Glenda Philips (1930)

I fell in love with music at the age of 5 when an upright piano was hoisted through the window of our fourth floor apartment in New York City! What magic there was in playing Sunday school hymns with two fingers! I've enjoyed music participation as a child and young adult and after graduating from College, I went on to become a grade school music teacher. I've been taking piano lessons since I've retired and hope to give a recital on an upcoming birthday. My three daughters and two precious grandchildren are also music lovers! Since joining the Young@ Heart Chorus , I've been pleasantly stretched beyond my sacred and classical music experience! What a joyride this has been!
Chorus member since 2007

Ed Rehor (1923)

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts Ed was always interested in band and sports. He fought in WW2 and the Korean wars and came home to raise five children. He is a Boy Scout leader and plays in four community bands. He's into fishing, boating, hunting and packing into the back country by horse. One day, he went to do his laundry and ended up in a (young at heart) chorus line.
Chorus member since 2003

Jack Schnepp (1930)

Jack is a Wilbraham resident who also currently sings with the Swingin Swingin Seniors of Chicopee Massachusetts and the Springfield Massachusetts Golden Age Club musicals. Jack has been a purchasing manager, materials manager, and regional administrator for Pioneer Valley corporations, but his ambition is to cut a record. A widower, Jack has six children and seventeen grandchildren.
Chorus member since 1999

Janice St Laurence (1928)

Jan studied both classical and modern music including theory. She played piano for tap and ballroom dancing starting at 12, and accompanied choral groups and played trombone in the High School and. In 1964 she accepted a position as accompanist for ballet and modern dance and other classes at Smith College. After 13 years with dance, she moved from performing arts to fine arts. She and her wonderful husband, a B-29 pilot, had 4 children and 6 grandchildren. They enjoyed flying small planes, sports, and traveling together. Music continues to fill her life and she also enjoys painting, knitting and scrapbooking.

Chorus member since 2000

Norma Urquiaga (1934)

Norma is a native of Lima, Peru but resides now in Agawam, MA. Mother of 3 children and 2 grandchildren. She is retired from retail business, loves music and enjoys traveling, outdoor activities and volunteering at her church.
Chorus member since 2007

Bob Cilman (1953)

Besides directing the Young@Heart Chorus, Bob Cilman is also the Executive Director of the Northampton Arts Council where he presents a broad range of arts events at the historic Academy of Music Theatre. Cilman was born and raised in Rochester, New York. He spent a couple of years at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and eventually received a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in American History, but has learned much more from the members of the Young@Heart Chorus. He is married to furniture maker, Polly Cassel and they have two children, Stella and Eva.
Chorus Director since 1982

William E. Arnold, Jr. (Mr. Clean) (1942)

A native of South Bend, Indiana, Bill was born on January 16, 1942 into a family of six. Bill attended the public school system in Indiana where he was an all around sportsman. At age 15, he started playing the bongo drums and became known as "Bongo Bill." At 16, Bill started playing the drums and became known as "Mr. Clean" when he started his career playing with the recording artist "Junior Walker and the Allstars." Mr. Clean has played with such Jazz greats as Teddy Wilson and Charlie Venture. Bill enjoys swimming and racket-ball. He would like very much to learn to play a new instrument, but is afraid of doing so because he fears another name change.

Billy's recent brush work on Echos of the Prophet: Songs Inspired by Kahlil Gibran has been called sublime byt Jazz Improv Magazine.

Band member since 2002

Frederick Alexander Johnson (1970)

Fall River, MA can lay claim to one Freddy Johnson. In the 1980's, Portugese wedding bands gave Freddy his hands on experience to roll with the punches and it certainly helps in the trenches with the Young at Heart Band. Freddy joined the chorus a while back but can barely remember what life was like then. With a solid background in rocking out Freddy comes to the chorus via his original outfit Drunk Stuntmen with all his shots. In his spare time Freddy continues to give back to the community as a part-time residential mental health counselor.

Ken Maiuri (1971)

Under the influence of his mom's records and his Pépère's instrument collection, Ken became a musician before he could pronounce the word. Self-taught (for better or worse), he's performed internationally with Mark Mulcahy, The Mammals, Pedro the Lion and many others, and was musical director for the rock opera "The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island," created by Mulcahy and renowned cartoonist Ben Katchor. In his spare time he's a weekly newspaper columnist, co-manager of an independent record store, eater of too much junk food, and lives in Northampton.
Band member since 2007

Steven Sanderson (1970)

Steven M. Sanderson is the lead singer of the world-renowned original rock band Drunk Stuntmen. After the two groups toured together in Holland Mr Sanderson was abducted by the Chorus and has been a part of the show on stage and behind the scenes since 2004. Drunk Stuntmen albums and a concert DVD featuring the Young at Heart Chorus performing original Stuntmen compositions can be unearthed at www.drunkstuntmen.com.

Ed Wise (1943)

Ed has been tickling the ivories since he was 3 years old. After flunking out of the Cleveland Institute of Music, he has played in every dive from San Francisco to Vineyard Haven. He was Martin Mull's and David McCullogh’s sidekick for many years, but he finally hit the Big Time with the Young@Heart Chorus.
Band member since 1998

Diane Porcella (1963)

administrator, is perfectly content to remain anonymous.